Boro Park in the Dark

Exploding manhole covers, electrical transformers on fire, and an entire Brooklyn neighborhood left a wedding hall in the dark.

By Chana Ya'ar

First Publish: 5/31/2012, 1:19 PM

A Jewish wedding.

Flash 90

Exploding manhole covers, electrical transformers on fire, and an entire Brooklyn neighborhood left a wedding hall in the dark Wednesday evening.

But the chuppah (wedding ceremony) went on.

Firefighters and and Con Edison electrical workers climbed into the mammoth underground pipes to see what could be done, and buildings were carefully inspected for cabon monoxide poisoning.

Meanwhile, workers at a local Chassidic wedding hall prepared for the nuptials by candlelight, while waiting for the delivery of a generator that would provide electricity until municipal power returned to the neighborhood.

Subsequently, officials said unseasonably high temperatures and 100 percent humidity in the area had caused the blackout. Pedestrians were warned to leave the area due to concerns over the risks from air pollution.

A similar situation occurred two days earlier in the northern New York State Chassidic village of New Square, near Monsey. Phone service was knocked out in most of the small community.

Local sources told Arutz Sheva the majority of mobile phone services as well as local lines were affected, as well as some of the power lines. As of Wednesday, some phone service had yet to be restored.